As advances occur in display technologies, including the ability to manufacture the necessary addressing electronics inexpensively and with higher yields, non-traditional form factors for displays become possible. Curved, hemispherical and spherical displays may soon exist, as well as ‘shaped’ displays that could be shaped to a particular surface as desired.
Similarly, the movement away from scanning display technologies, such as the traditional cathode ray tubes (CRTs) has resulted in most displays consisting of an X-Y grid of pixels, or picture elements. This provides an opportunity to segment or divide up the pixels into groups and allow those groups to be addressed as if they still resided in a complete X-Y grid.
With the increased manufacturing capabilities, displays have begun to replace traditional painted or printed signs in venues ranging from coffee shops and bookstores to grocery stores and airports. Displays may be used as ‘changeable art’ where still pictures are displayed and changed at the user's desire. Surfaces that previously had been painted are now the platform for programmable displays.
One such surface is louver window shades. A louver window shade typically consists of a set of slats or bars that are mounted by their sides to a window frame. When the shades are rotated so their flat surfaces are pointing up and down, they allow air and/or light into a room. When the user rotates the slats such that the flat surfaces are pointing towards the room and away from the room, the slats block the light and/or the air.
Being able to use the slats of a louver window shade as a programmable display would afford many new opportunities and functionalities for displays.